Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has strongly criticized a recent phone call between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin, describing it as opening a “Pandora’s box” that undermines international efforts to isolate the Russian leader.
“This is exactly what Putin has been wanting for a long time: it is extremely important for him to weaken his isolation, Russia’s isolation, and to have normal negotiations that will not end in anything,” Zelensky said of the call.
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The conversation, held on Friday, marked the first direct communication between Scholz and Putin in two years. It comes as Scholz faces a snap election in Germany and amidst anticipation of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s strategy for addressing the ongoing war in Ukraine.
During the call, Scholz reportedly urged Putin to withdraw Russian forces from Ukraine and initiate talks with Kyiv to pave the way for a “just and lasting peace,” according to a statement from the German government cited by Reuters.
The Kremlin claimed the conversation occurred at Berlin’s request. According to Moscow, Putin emphasized that any peace agreement must consider Russia’s security concerns and recognize the “new territorial realities” created by the conflict.
Zelensky, along with other European leaders, had reportedly warned Scholz against engaging with Putin, viewing the call as potentially damaging to international unity against Russia. Sources familiar with the situation suggested the move was driven by domestic political considerations ahead of Germany’s February 23 snap election, Reuters reported.
Scholz’s Social Democratic Party is under growing pressure from populist parties advocating for increased diplomatic efforts to end the war. Critics on both the left and right have argued that the government has not done enough to promote dialogue with Moscow.
“The chancellor urged Russia to show willingness to enter talks with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace,” a German government spokesperson said in a statement, Reuters added.
“He stressed Germany’s unbroken determination to back Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression for as long as necessary,” the spokesperson added, said Reuters.
Ukraine said however that phone conversations with Putin brought no added value on the path to achieving a “just peace” in Ukraine. “This [the call] made it possible for Russia to change nothing in its policy, to do nothing in essence, and this is exactly what led to this war,” Zelensky said in his evening address.
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The call comes in the week after Trump was elected as the next US president. He has suggested he could put a swift end to the war, without explaining how, and repeatedly criticized the scale of Western financial and military aid for Kyiv.
“It sends a bad signal especially after Trump’s election,” said one Western diplomat to Reuters, noting their country had told Berlin it was not a good idea. “My hope is that Scholz can now say to his electorate ‘look, I have done it, and it’s a waste of time as Putin isn’t open to anything’. But of course, (it is a) question about how Russia spins it.”
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